America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

This week, The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced its 29th annual list of the most endangered historic places in America. The 2016 list focuses on urban places that are under threat from modern development, exorbitant renovation costs and natural threats like earthquakes and rising sea levels. The good news is that most of the 270 sites that have been added to this list since 1988 have been successfully preserved. So here's hoping that these 11 spots will be around for a long time.

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Azikiwe-Nkrumah Hall at Lincoln University

Where: Lincoln, Pennsylvania

Why It's Endangered: Not only is Azikiwe-Nkrumah Hall the oldest building at Lincoln University, but it's also the site of the first degree-granting institution in the world to educate former slaves. Despite all of its history, the building was recently closed and could potentially be demolished to make way for a new welcome center at the school.

Courtesy of National Trust For Historic Preservation/Joseph Kitchen

Bears Ears

Where: Southeastern Utah

Why It's Endangered: While Native American tribes, conservation groups and public officials have rallied for years to turn the Bears Ears area of Utah into a national monument, it currently lacks adequate funding and legal protection, which puts the cliff dwellings, petroglyphs and several archaeological sites here at risk of being destroyed.

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Charleston Naval Hospital District

Where: North Charleston, South Carolina

Why It's Endangered: During World War II, this hospital, located on the Charleston Navy Base, treated up to 4,000 wounded soldiers returning home from battles in Europe and Africa every month. Now nearly a third of the remaining buildings could be demolished if plans to build a rail line are allowed to go through.

Courtesy of National Trust For Historic Preservation/Preservation Society of Charleston

Delta Queen

Where: Houma, Louisiana

Why It's Endangered: In 2008, congress prohibited the Delta Queen — a 1926 wooden steamboat — from taking passengers on overnight cruises, putting an end to a 200-year-old American tradition. The boat currently remains closed to the public at a dock outside of New Orleans. Unless legislation changes, the Delta Queen will be unable to take on passengers, leaving it financially unviable for future preservation.

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El Paso's Chihuahuita and El Segundo Barrio Neighborhoods

Where: El Paso, Texas

Why It's Endangered: El Paso is in the middle of a development boom currently, and many historic buildings — including Victorian-era shops and adobe houses — in its oldest neighborhoods are under threat of demolition as the city continues to grow.

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Embarcadero Historic District

Where: San Francisco, California

Why It's Endangered: Things looked up for San Francisco's historic waterfront district after the city tore down the elevated freeway that hovered over it in 1991. But the district's future is under threat — the Embarcadero's historic seawall was revealed to be under greater risk than previously thought after a recent earthquake vulnerability study. Even if an earthquake doesn't take out the historic district, the Port of San Francisco also anticipates the sea level to rise up to 66 inches by 2100, which would flood the entire area.

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Historic Downtown Flemington

Where: Flemington, New Jersey

Why It's Endangered: Four historic buildings on Flemington's Main Street — including the 1877 Union Hotel that housed the jurors, press and families involved in the infamous Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial in 1935 — could be demolished to make way for a brand new eight-story building.

Courtesy of National Trust For Historic Preservation/Chris Pickell

James River

Where: James City County, Virginia

Why It's Endangered: The landscape of the James River has remained relatively untouched since English settlers built Jamestown along its banks in 1607. But that could soon change if Dominion Virginia Power is allowed to build an overhead electric transmission line — plus 17 transmission towers — along the historic site.

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Lions Municipal Golf Course

Where: Austin, Texas

Why It's Endangered: Known locally as "Muny," this golf course was the first to desegregate in the South in 1950. Even though it was added to the National Register of Historic Places last summer, its current lease expires in 2019 and there is talk about potentially using the site for commercial development.

Courtesy of National Trust For Historic Preservation/Save Muny

Mitchell Park Domes

Where: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Why It's Endangered: Built between 1959 and 1967, these unique conoidal domes were used as conservatories until they were temporarily closed in 2016 after concrete debris began falling from the ceilings. Since it will take an estimated $70 million to repair the domes, some officials are suggesting they be demolished instead.